BLS Margin of Error
Sy Harding, author of Riding the Bear, writes: “In the fine print of the employment report each month, under a section titled...
US Treasury Dept Usurping Fed, Fueling Markets
Whenever we discuss some of the darker theories of a conspiracy or market manipulation, I seek to discover a market mechanism that can...
Fed Official Says Bad Data Helped Fuel Rate Cuts, Housing...
"In this case, poor data led to a policy action that amplified speculative activity in the housing and other markets....
Analyzing why “It’s a great time to buy or sell a...
Yesterday, we discussed the $40M NAR ad campaign, “It’s a great time to buy or sell a home!” On the way home, I...
NFP: Retiring the Over/Under Bet
A little over two years ago, I mentioned on Squawk Box that I was taking the "Under" on Non-Farm Payrolls. Since that...
Actual GDP: ~0%
Don’t pay attention to the statistically aberrant GDP number reported Friday. Its actually much worse. Thanks to a...
Middle Class Squeeze Continues
I’ve been discussed the declining middle class for some time now — see The Disconnect and Economic Classes for a more...
A Closer Look at New Home Sales Data
Yesterday’s increase in New Home Sales caught some economists by surprise. I look at those sorts of numbers suspiciously. Any time...
Our piddlingly tiny Defense Budget
I want to bring a different tack to our usually fun forays into Data Analysis: Instead of me railing about some statistical...
Delving Deeper Into Housing
The spinmeisters approach to Housing is to live in Goofytown — and if you check out your maps of Spin City, you will find...